One year before the Rio 2016 Olympic games, three bodies of water slated to be used for water sports have been found to be dangerously filthy. Scientists have found bacteria and viruses in the water "roughly equivalent to raw sewage." The Brazilian government had plans to create eight new water treatment facilities, but only one has been created to date.

Produced by Emma Fierberg. Original Reporting by Tony Manfred. Video courtesy of Associated Press. 

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Hundreds of pages of documents have been made public from the NFLPA's counterclaim against the NFL over Tom Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension

As Deadspin first pointed out, buried in the massive data dump are a bunch of Tom Brady's personal emails, which range from banal topics like pool covers and travel arrangements to redacted emails between the New England quarterback and Josh McDaniels, the Patriots' offensive coordinator. None of the emails appear to be incriminating with respect to deflated footballs.

One of the more entertaining emails, however, comes on the same day that ESPN NFL analyst Mark Brunell nearly cried on live television and called Tom Brady a liar. On January 22, Brunell went on ESPN after Brady's press conference where he denied any involvement in the scandal. Brunell said, "Somebody had to do it, and I don’t believe there’s an equipment manager in the NFL who on his own initiative would deflate a ball without his starting quarterback’s approval. I just didn’t believe what Tom Brady had to say."

In a response to an email from former Michigan teammate Patrick Kratus within a few hours of Brunell's comment, Brady called Brunell a "Patriots hater."

"He's a patriot hater. They all are!!!" he wrote.

Watch video of Brunell below:

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NOW WATCH: Curious things most people don’t know about Tom Brady

Disney shares are getting slammed on Wednesday and analysts seem to be worried about one thing at the company: ESPN. 

But in a post over at Stratechery, Ben Thompson lays out one simple reason why ESPN will probably be fine: They own basically everything. 

The idea underwriting concerns about ESPN's future is that as the traditional TV bundle unravels, ESPN is going to lose subscribers and as a result, see declining subscription revenue. 

ESPN gets about $6 per cable subscriber; its nearest competitors get about $1.50 at most. 

And with Disney's cable networks group — led by ESPN — accounting for about half of its profit, it's easy to see where the concern from analysts and industry watchers comes from.

Disney shares were down about 7% following Tuesday's earnings report, and on Disney's earnings conference call, CEO Bob Iger talked at length about ESPN.

Iger said that while Disney is "mindful of potential trends among younger audiences" and that ESPN seen "modest" subscriber losses, the network was turned on by 83% of cable households at some point during the first quarter of 2015. 

Additionally, Iger noted that 96% of ESPN content is seen live and argued that the company has, "embraced technology better than anyone in traditional media."

Now, of course, you expect Iger is going to talk up the quality of the network.

In Thompson's view, those offerings represent the company's entire competitive advantage. An advantage that, as the media landscape changes, can be effectively leveraged. 

In an interview on CNBC last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted ESPN could eventually be offered "over the top," meaning that subscribers could pay to stream ESPN online without needing to buy a complete cable package. The model here would be something like what HBO currently offers. 

And as an example of this content Thompson thinks ESPN can leverage, Iger noted that ESPN has locked up the college football playoff for the next 11 years. 

If you're going to take the doom-and-gloom outlook on ESPN, then paying billions of dollars to show content while subscribers decline will be a disaster. But if you think that this is the kind of event a sports fan needs to see, ESPN has an advantage when looking to sell its content apart from a bundle. 

And so to go back to Thompson's argument, it is precisely because ESPN owns seemingly everything, because it has paid billions of dollars for these events, that it seems likely an ESPN over the top offering could succeed. 

In July, The Wall Street Journal cited analysts that said ESPN would need to charge $30 for an over the top offering to bring in the same amount of money it currently does inside a cable bundle.

Given that about 100 million cable subscribers pay about $6 a month for ESPN, this assumes that 20 million people, or about 20% of current cable subscribers, sign up for a separate ESPN offering. 

Which, if ESPN has effectively all sports you need to watch, seems like a fairly realistic target to Thompson. In this scenario, you're betting that 1 in 5 current cable subscribers really likes sports and will pay a premium for ESPN. 

And as for the bigger-picture worries about the future of TV and the cable bundle, Thompson writes that, "to fixate on the fate of ESPN is akin to journalism observers only caring about how the New York Times is managing the transition away from print to first the Internet and now to mobile." 

Basically, there is a no question that the behavior of people with respect to how they pay for and consume TV is changing, much like the way people pay for and consume media is changing. 

But ESPN is an incumbent, leading brand that has a financial and reputational cushion to manage this change. 

Read Thompson's full post here »

SEE ALSO: Millennials aren't getting cable because they can't afford it

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Playing in just his second career Major League game, Rays rookie Richie Shaffer hit his first home run. But it's what happened when he got back to the dugout that's so memorable.

Shaffer's teammates pulled a classic baseball prank, the silent treatment. That is, when a player hits a home run that is significant to their own career, the rest of the team ignores him and pretends like it is no big deal. The Rays took it a step further, with several players huddling in the middle of the dugout when Shaffer got back.

But Shaffer handled the situation perfectly, celebrating anyway. 

So good.

“It was awesome,” Shaffer said after the game about the prank. “I knew they were going to do something. So I go in there and no one is looking at me or talking to me so I was giving out some fake high-fives and handshakes to everyone. They had the little ring going and I made my way in there and everybody was going nuts.”

The teammates did eventually break out of character and celebrated the big home run. Here is the full video.

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NOW WATCH: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The historic 1996 Chicago Bulls championship team

After weeks of speculation, boxing's pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather finally confirmed he plans to fight Andre Berto September 12th on Showtime pay-per-view.

When reports first surfaced two weeks ago, the fight was heavily scrutinized. Experts thought Mayweather was joking, other boxers described it as "embarrassing," and all the while Berto was being billed as a heavy underdog — except, that doesn't fully explain the situation.

Berto isn't just an underdog. With betting lines finally open, it's clear that Berto is actually one of the biggest underdogs in boxing history.

Odds Checker, which posts betting lines from casinos and gambling sites from around the world, most commonly lists Berto as a 16:1 underdog, a number that may even increase once more bets are placed. Mayweather, on the other hand, is listed anywhere between a 1:66 and 1:200 favorite to win.

Berto may believe he's "coming to kick Floyd's a** on Sept. 12," but he seems to be the only one. Bettors have such little faith in Berto that he's actually listed as a bigger underdog than some of the most memorable, and shocking, upsets in boxing history:

• 1934: Max Schmeling (10:1 underdog) defeats Joe Louis
• 1935: Jim Braddock (10:1 underdog) defeats Max Baer
• 1951: Randy Turpin (5:1 underdog) defeats Sugar Ray Robinson
• 1964: Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, (7:1 underdog) defeats Sonny Liston
• 1971: Muhammad Ali (7:1 underdog) defeats George Foreman
• 1985: Michael Spinks (6:1 underdog) defeats Larry Holmes
• 1994: Frankie Randall (15:1 underdog) defeats Julio Cesar Chavez
• 2008: Carlos Quintana (8:1 underdog) defeats Paul Williams

While Berto's betting odds don't come close to the 42:1 odds Buster Duglas was listed as when he knocked out Mike Tyson 25 years ago, a Berto upset would still be just as shocking.

There's also the fact that Mayweather has an undefeated 48-0 record, and has said this will be the last fight of his career before he retires. Losing for the first time in his last fight would be utterly astonishing in itself, but even more so due to the poor level of competition he's scheduled to fight.

Berto is just 3-3 in his last six fights, and hasn't faced nearly the same level of competition Mayweather has. Even from a purely physical standpoint, he's also shorter than Mayweather, and posses a lesser reach. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix simply describes Berto as "one of the least qualified" boxers in the welterweight division.

As one of the biggest underdogs in boxing history, it would be very hard to argue otherwise.

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NOW WATCH: Why Floyd Mayweather is impossible to beat

A massive pile of Tom Brady's personal emails were made public as part of the NFLPA's counterclaim against the NFL in response to Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension.

From what we can tell, none of the emails appear to be all that relevant to the scandal beyond Brady telling his friend that ESPN's Mark Brunell is a "Patriot hater." It's mostly banal stuff: buying a URL for his company, organizing a golf trip, approving offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' game plans for the week, etc.

The most fascinating email chain concerns, of all things, pool covers. In an exchange from last October, Brady's manager, Ben Rawitz, suggests that Brady buy a new $8,500 pool cover for the winter. Brady, who has made $150 million in career NFL salary and is one of the league's richest players, cannot believe he has to shell out nearly nine grand when he already has a perfectly fine pool cover.

He calls the pool industry "f------ idiots" and refers to a company that doesn't sell white pool covers as "morons."

Here's the entire email thread:

On October 21, Brady's manager broke the news that Brady had to buy an $8,300 cover (with a $200 installation fee):

Brady wants to know why:

Here's why ...

Brady is not happy. His point: If we need a special cover for the winter, what's the use of the one we have on there now?

Rawitz explains the deal with the two covers:

Brady says fine, but we can at least wait a month:

The next morning, Rawitz comes in with the full details of why he needs a new pool cover:

Brady, seemingly okay with that answer, says let's go with white:

Welp, there are no white covers:

Brady doesn't like that answer one bit. NO WHITE COVERS?!

At this point Rawitz brings out the trump card: Gisele has spoken. It's over:

And thus concludes a weirdly compelling insight into how the 1% lives. It must be noted that Brady makes some good points here.

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NOW WATCH: These are the most dominant athletes in every sport

UFC president Dana White says he believes a potential mega-fight between No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound women's fighter Ronda Rousey and No. 2 ranked Cris "Cyborg" Justino wouldn't just break UFC pay-per-view records – it would shatter them.

Speaking about the possibility of a Rousey-Justino fight after Rousey knocked out Bethe Correia in 34 seconds, White said that he has increased his original prediction of 2 million pay-per-view buys to 2.5 million, a number which would shatter the previous record of 1.6 million set by the Frank Mir-Brock Lesnar fight in 2009:

"The day that [Justino] makes the weight and does what she’s supposed to do, that fight is on. She wants that fight — everybody — you think I don’t’ want that fight to happen? That fight — now I’m changing my mind on that fight — I think that fight does two-and-a-half million buys. That fight is massive."

White's prediction is bold. While Rousey has become a household name, and is "the most dominant athlete alive," her recent UFC main event pay-per-view numbers never broke 1 million buys, let alone come close to White's predicted 2.5 million, according to MMA Payout:

• Feb. 23, 2013: UFC 157 Rousey vs. Carmouche – 450,000 buys
• Feb. 22, 2014: UFC 170 Rousey vs. McMann – 350,000 buys
• Feb. 28, 2015: UFC 184 Rousey vs. Zingano – 590,000 buys

Even with Rousey's latest main event, UFC 190, rumored to have surpassed 800,000 buys, that's still no where near the realm of 2.5 million. While White's prediction would appear almost far-fetched, Justino, herself, when speaking on ESPN's SportsCenter, described the fight as something "that has to happen," and one that would generate a large audience:

"This fight has to happen. Because if UFC thinks I don’t deserve this fight, don’t just do it for media, do it for all the fans that want to watch this fight. You don’t have to do it for me. If I don’t deserve this fight, my fans and the fans of women’s MMA want to see this fight, and they deserve this fight."

While Rousey and Justino have had talks of a potential fight in the past, negotiations have always fallen apart when it came to decide what weight the fight should be held at. Rousey is signed with UFC, and fights in the bantamweight division at 135 pounds. Justino, however, is signed with Invicta, and fights in the featherweight division at 145 pounds.

Since there is no women's featherweight division in UFC, Justino would either have to convince Rousey to agree to a catch weight of 140 pounds — which Rousey has repeatedly denied — or be forced to drop 10 pounds, and fight at 135. While Justino admitted this would be difficult, she recently said she will attempt to do so — leading to the current re-energized discussions over a possible record-breaking main event starring the two fighters.

Until then, Rousey recently confirmed her next fight will be against Miesha Tate. Rousey previously defeated Tate in both of their two prior fights, and opened as an 11-to-1 favorite.

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NOW WATCH: Everything you didn't know about Manny Pacquiao's incredible life outside of boxing

Through five days of Tennessee Titans training camp, rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota has yet to throw an interception.

On Monday, the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft went 7-for-15 in combined 7-on-7 and team drills. On Wednesday he had another good outing, completing 8 of 12 passes with no picks, per the Tennessean's Titans' beat reporter John Glennon.

Unsurprisingly, many Titans fans are thrilled with their rookie quarterback's progress. The team won two games last year. In the past five years, Jake Locker, Charlie Whitehurst, Zach Mettenberger, Matt Hasselbeck, Vince Young, and Rusty Smith have all started at quarterback. Titans fans deserve to be excited about Mariota. 

Zero interceptions is an impressive feat for Mariota, sure, but five practices into a preseason mean next to nothing — a small sample size rendered even smaller when you consider that teams haven't even finalized their 53-man rosters ... right?

Still, the reports coming out about him from respected NFL reporters are really positive:

On the other hand, there are some skeptics.

CBS Sports' Pete Prisco tweeted out a contrarian take on Mariota, explaining that Mariota's lack of turnovers — through five preseason practices! — is actually a red-flag because it shows he's not taking enough chances as quarterback. 

This morning, Tennessean columnist David Climer suggested that people needed to pump the brakes on the Mariota bandwagon. Writes Climer:

"The guy's human. He hasn’t single-handedly rescued the Titans franchise just yet. Can we wait a couple of weeks before naming him MVP of Super Bowl 50?"

"It’s a little premature to commission a bust of Mariota for Canton. It’s a disservice to someone who won’t turn 22 until the seventh game of his first NFL season. Give him a little room to breathe and time to grow."

This all comes only a week or so after ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported that Mariota's lack of red flags was, in itself, a red flag for certain NFL scouts. 

The NFL: where being good is bad, and throwing interceptions is worse than not throwing interceptions! 

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NOW WATCH: Watch Cristiano Ronaldo star in a bizarre ad for his Japanese ab machine

In this documentary series, "League of Millions," we chronicle the phenomenon surrounding the "League of Legends" video game and follow a pro team in its quest for the 2015 championship. Playoffs at Madison Square Garden are just weeks away.

In Part 1 of the series, we explore the game and its allure to fans around the globe, who pack stadiums at the level of the largest rock concerts and sporting events. And we meet Team Liquid, five elite players who comprise one of the top North American teams.

In this installment, Team Liquid is experiencing some of its worst — and best — moments of the 2015 season.

Director and Producer: Sam Rega

Editor: Josh Wolff

Production and Research: David Fang and Lauren Browning

Executive Producer: Diane Galligan

Follow TI: On YouTube

Join the conversation about this story »

In this documentary series, "League of Millions," we chronicle the phenomenon surrounding the "League of Legends" video game and follow a pro team in its quest for the 2015 championship. Playoffs at Madison Square Garden are just weeks away.

In Part 1 of the series, we explore the game and its allure to fans around the globe, who pack stadiums at the level of the largest rock concerts and sporting events. And we meet Team Liquid, five elite players who comprise one of the top North American teams.

In this installment, Team Liquid is experiencing some of its worst — and best — moments of the 2015 season.

Director and Producer: Sam Rega

Editor: Josh Wolff

Production and Research: David Fang and Lauren Browning

Executive Producer: Diane Galligan

Follow TI: On YouTube

Join the conversation about this story »

Seven months after the New England Patriots were accused of intentionally deflating footballs used in the AFC Championship game, Tom Brady and the NFL are still battling over the four-game suspension for his involvement in the scandal. While there is still a chance the suspension will be reduced, it's clear that it is coming at a terrible point in Brady's career.

In 2013, Brady was 36-year-old and appeared to be on the decline, struggling with a group of young receivers on the way to one of his worst seasons statistically of the last decade. But in 2014, Brady rebounded, having a very good season and leading the Pats to their fourth Super Bowl championship.

Now, Brady faces the possibility of being forced to miss a quarter of the season. Not only does Brady not have many games left at age 38, but he is at risk for losing the momentum he built during the 2014 season. That could prove more costly than any actual losses while he is out.

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NOW WATCH: This mesmerizing video of Chinese students jumping rope in unison is going viral

Bill Simmons is back, and he is laying waste to everybody involved in building the Deflategate case against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

It was announced in May that Bill Simmons was done at ESPN and that his contract would not be renewed. Still under contract with ESPN until September, Simmons spent much of the next two months flying relatively under the radar until the announcement that he would be joining HBO in October on a "multiyear, multiplatform" deal.

Since the HBO announcement, Simmons' activity has ticked up. With the NFL upholding Brady's four-game suspension, Simmons has taken to Twitter to voice his displeasure in a series of tweets, and it appears nobody is safe.

It started on the day the suspension was upheld. Simmons went right after commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL, the very thing that presumably had a role in his dismissal from ESPN.

Dumbest part of DeflateGate (Day 192): People actually think Brady should have given his private cell phone to the NFL... aka, Leak Central.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 28, 2015

"Here, Roger, take my cell phone and all my private texts and pictures... You've handled every so honorably these last 9 years."

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 28, 2015

I can't believe the arbitrator gave a favorable ruling on the Commissioner's original decision - it's like those 2 people were in cahoots.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 28, 2015

To be fair, Goodell handled Spygate, Bountygate, Rice, concussions and the ref strike so well that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 28, 2015

Simmons then went after the media, suggesting that former players who are now talking heads have an agenda while discussing Deflategate. Some of those talking heads have criticized Brady on ESPN:

After pointing to a Sally Jenkins column that attacks the NFL's suggestion that Brady's cellphone was important to the investigation, Simmons sarcastically pointed out the similarity to previous apparently inaccurate reports that made the Patriots look bad (for reference, the Patriots did not have a secret videotape of the Rams' pre-Super Bowl practice and there were not 11 footballs underinflated by 2 pounds).

So to recap: the Pats taped the Rams SB practice, Brady broke his cell phone, and 11 of 12 AFC Title 2015 footballs were 2 lbs underweight.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 31, 2015

Also - the Tooth Fairy takes teeth from under my kids' pillows and replaces them with money. That, too.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 31, 2015

Then Simmons appeared to openly mock Chris Mortensen's decision not to retract his original report that 11 of the 12 footballs were underinflated by 2 pounds each.

My bad. It turns out that @rembert is NOT the father of Kim Kardashian's second baby. I retract the report and I have deleted the tweet.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 4, 2015

Simmons wasn't close to being done. Next up was Colts general manager Ryan Grigson, whom Simmons calls "Ryan Sore Loser Grigson," and who went to the NFL before the AFC Championship Game to have the league on the lookout for deflated footballs.

Ryan Sore Loser Grigson's name popping up in DeflateGate again reminded me of this unintentionally hilarious SI piece http://t.co/uwqP0TNRtg

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 5, 2015

"To Grigson, scouting is not just a skill. It's a state of mind, and it doesn't stop when the film does." TRADED A 1ST FOR TRENT RICHARDSON.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 5, 2015

Grigson thinks of his roster as a bonsai tree. "I am constantly pruning it," he says. AGAIN, HE TRADED A FIRST FOR TRENT RICHARDSON.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 5, 2015

Next up was Indianapolis columnist Bob Kravitz, who was the first to report that there was investigation and who later apologized for some of the storm he caused.

DeflateGate recap: Colts GM complains to NFL multiple times... NFL checks balls with most incompetent testing measures possible...

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 5, 2015

After game, damaging info is leaked to local Indy columnist and then a national columnist as well... And we are off...

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 5, 2015

Yeah who cares what Bill Simmons think. Your expert reporting experience led to this tweet - https://t.co/YmWh1oDD8Thttps://t.co/OEZccZ0P2B

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 5, 2015

Over the past week, Simmons littered his timeline with other comments questioning the investigation, the methods used, and the commissioner's role, complimenting various media who have produced pro-Patriots or anti-NFL material.

Simmons still has two months left as an unused ESPN employee, but it appears that he is already done biting his lip.

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NOW WATCH: These are the most dominant athletes in every sport

The cost of a 30-second ad slot during Super Bowl 50 has soared to $5 million, according to next year's big-game broadcaster, CBS.

That's up 11% on the highest price this year's broadcaster, NBC, earned for its Super Bowl ads. NBC charged as much as $4.5 million for an ad during the most recent Super Bowl.

The last time CBS aired the Super Bowl, three years ago, the average 30-second spot cost $3.8 million.

Speaking on the company's second-quarter earnings call, CBS chief executive Les Moonves reiterated that Super Bowl ads airing on TV would also stream online at the same time, generating even more revenue.

"We are learning a lot, and as you can see, as you read what Comcast is doing, what DISH is doing, is the addressability is becoming clearer and clearer, and that is only good news for us," Moonves said. "The more they know [about their audiences], the more we're going to be able to sell."

Moonves dismissed a question that suggested the sheer production costs of broadcasting the game, plus incremental sports rights, may make it tough to make money.

He responded: "If there's a rap on it, tell them we will take the Super Bowl every single year, year in, year out, forever. So you know what, if the incremental doesn't outweigh the amount of money you get per spot, what NBC got last year, it is very, very worth it. You are going to see it in revenue and in profit in 2016, and we love having it. We're very excited about having it. There's no downside."

Moonves has previously said a Super Bowl spot on CBS could eventually fetch as much as $6 million.

Meanwhile, CBS is entering its biggest year in terms of NFL programming, which also includes Thursday games and Sunday games. Moonves made what he called the "bold statement" that CBS was on track to "win" for the 2015-2016 season versus competitors in terms of ad revenue.

CBS 2nd-quarter earnings

CBS reported a 1% lift in revenue to $3.22 billion in its second quarter, but profit fell 24% to $332 million as gains in its cable networks were offset by other divisions' performances and investments in programming and new digital services.

The company launched its Showtime over-the-top streaming service in the quarter, which it believes can reach a new audience of up to 90 million households. On the earnings call, the company's COO, Joe Ianniello, said every 1 million new subscribers would equal $100 million of profit. CBS is also considering exporting the Showtime OTT service internationally.

TV observers and investors have been nervous about the impact of "unbundling" from big cable subscriptions. Disney's stock was hammered Wednesday after investors were spooked about whether ESPN could keep ahead of the cord-cutting trend.

But Moonves said CBS was well positioned to keep up with changing consumer viewing behaviors. He said (courtesy of Seeking Alpha):

Yes, I mean, look, you've made a valid point, one that we've been saying for a long time. As the world proceeds into the skinnier bundles, the smaller bundles, it does leave anxiety out there for a lot of companies. We are a big proponent, because guess what: every skinny bundle deal that's out there —and obviously we've made a few of them already — the ecosystem gets validated towards he who has the most viewers gets paid the most money.

I know it's an odd concept for some of the cable companies, but that's the way it should be. We're sort of re-regulating what the system should be. So any time there's a new bundle that you hear out there, you can assume that CBS is applauding it, because we are going to get paid more than we get paid by the traditional MVPDs.

So we are one of the few companies that is very much in favor of it. Our major brands are CBS and Showtime. And as this world evolves and it is evolving, we are ready for it. We are ready for it, so it should be greeted well.

SEE ALSO: Here are all the commercials that ran during the Super Bowl, in order

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NOW WATCH: Curious things most people don’t know about Tom Brady

Though Tom Brady has been suspended for the first four games of the coming season, he still has every intention of playing football well into the future. In an email made public from the NFL players union's counterclaim against the NFL earlier this week, Brady, who just turned 38, told his friend Kevin Brady (no relation) that he feels he can play for seven or eight more years. He also thinks longtime rival Peyton Manning has only two years left.

After being sent an article about his rivalry with Manning, Brady wrote an email back saying: "Thanks popa. I've got another seven or eight years. He has two. That's the final chapter. Game on."

The Grantland article to which both Kevin and Tom are referring here is a Bill Simmons column from October 2014 that discusses at length the twilights of Manning and Brady's careers. There's one anecdote buried deep in the piece that quotes Julian Edelman talking about Brady being then 37 and with no desire to retire. Here's Simmons:

I asked him how long Brady could keep playing, and without hesitation, Edelman said, “As long as he wants.”

“Like, 43?”

Edelman nodded. He described Brady as a “football machine,” adding, “He’s in bed by eight thirty every night!” He had never seen anything like Tom Brady. He couldn’t imagine Brady NOT playing football. Six more years, at least. That’s what he believed.

In a separate email, Brady praised the Simmons article, calling it a "great story:"

"wow...great story...amazing to me that he is so accurate without much information.... "know thyself and to thy own self be true"...my goal has never been to be the greatest ever...my goal has been to win every day i take the field and to prove to myself that i am the best i can be every day. march or november...this ride aint over yet popa."

It turns out that Edelman's assessment didn't give Brady as much credit as Brady gives himself. Eight more years in the NFL would make the Patriots quarterback 45-years-old at the start of the 2023 season. Only three quarterbacks have ever started a regular season game in the NFL at age 44, per Pro-Football-Reference. No one has ever played quarterback in the NFL at age 45. Most recently, 44-year-old Vinny Testeverde started for the Carolina Panthers in 2007. 

Brady structures his entire life so that he can stay healthy and competitive for the upcoming seasons, so perhaps his assessment of himself here isn't that insane. According to an interview with MMQB's Peter King from last year, Brady says he feels better now, well into his 30s, than he did at 25:

“You know, you don’t have to suck when you get older.”

“It’s hard to explain this to people, but the commitment I make, in terms of keeping my body in shape and my nutrition right, should make me healthy. I feel better today than when I was 25, and I know that’s hard for people to believe, but I do. I work at it. Basically, I work all off-season to prepare my body to not get hurt. I can’t help the team if I’m on the sidelines. I’ve got to be durable."

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NOW WATCH: Curious things most people don’t know about Tom Brady

Russell Wilson's huge $87 million contract extension almost didn't happen this summer as the two sides worked right up to the training camp deadline before reaching a deal. But now that Wilson has a deal in place, he can finally buy his own place to live.

Wilson was a guest on "The Dan Patrick Show" on Thursday morning and was asked what he treated himself to after signing the new deal. According to Wilson, the only thing he has bought is "new treats" for his two great danes, but added that he thinks his agent will finally let him buy a new house.

“I'll probably end up buying a house now,” Wilson told Dan Patrick. “My agent, Mark [Rodgers], would never let me get a house until I signed a deal. So that will be the first thing I get ... I was in the renting process. Now I think I can finally buy a home.”

Even Wilson's tone made it sound like he is still not 100% certain and that he may need to check with Rodgers.

As a third-round draft pick, Wilson has been one of the most underpaid players in the NFL over the last three years, but it is also not like he hasn't made any money. In three seasons he has made $2.2 million in salary and would have made another $1.5 million this season without the new deal. But if Wilson really wanted something high-end, it was probably smart to wait until he had the guaranteed money, $60 million of it, including a $30 million signing bonus.

One of the reasons attributed to the protracted negotiations was Wilsons' unusual decision to use a baseball agent in Rodgers, somebody Wilson has worked with since his days as a minor league baseball player. It sounds like more players should give it a shot.

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NOW WATCH: These are the most dominant athletes in every sport

With Tom Brady losing his appeal of his four-game suspension, it appears that the New England Patriots are preparing for the possibility they will be forced to play without their star quarterback for the first four games of the regular season.

At Wednesday's practice, for the first time in training camp, backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took most of the first-team reps, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss.

"It's on, it's on — every rep matters, and when you get an opportunity like this to come out with the guys and have the majority of reps, it's a good thing and you have to take advantage of it," Garoppolo said. "I'm pretty critical of myself. I think that's a good thing."

Since being taken by the Patriots in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft, Garoppolo has rarely worked with the first-team offense in practice, or games. The former Eastern Illinois star saw only limited action during the regular season last year, though he did start the entire second half of the Patriots' regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills with the Patriots already having secured the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Here's how Garoppolo performed during his limited playing time last year:

• September 29: 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs: 6/7 passes completed, 70 yards, 1 touchdown, 147.9 quarterback rating
• October 26: 51-23 win over the Chicago Bears: 3/3 passes completed, 22 yards, 97.2 quarterback rating
• December 28: 22-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills: 10/17 passes completed, 90 yards, 73.2 quarterback rating

While the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Garoppolo has the natural build for a quarterback, Reiss notes that he seemed to struggle at times throughout the "game-like" practice, and reporters who were charting throws said the former second-rounder competed only about half of his passes.

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In April 2014, a senior Olympic official called Rio de Janeiro's preparations for the 2016 Olympics the "worst ever."

Sixteen months later, 365 days before the Opening Ceremony, Rio mayor Eduardo Paes announced that all projects were on schedule.

"We are literally making a miracle happen here," he said.

Given what we saw at the Sochi Olympics (where hotels weren't finished by the start of the games) and the 2014 World Cup (where a few stadiums in Brazil barely made it in under the wire), there's still some worry that Rio won't be ready when the games begin a year from now.

The country spent $10.2 billion building and renovating 31 venues for the Olympics, Globo reports, though only $3.8 billion of that was publicly funded, according to the mayor. The games will be split between four clusters: the main hub in Barra (where the Olympic Park will be), Maracana (where the Opening Ceremony will be), Deodoro (the inland hub), and Copacabana (the base for water sports).

Brazil says the venues will be 100% completed. With a year to go, where's what they look like.

The Barra Cluster in western Rio is one of the primary hubs of the 2016 games.

The nine venues will host flagship events like gymnastics, swimming, and basketball.

Brazil claims the Park is 82% complete, but some venues are more finished than others...

Source: Globo

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Terrelle Pryor last saw regular season action in the NFL in 2013 as the starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders. Less than two years later, Pryor — now on his fifth team — is impressing the NFL world in his new role as a wide receiver with the Cleveland Browns.

Since deciding to change positions in an attempt to prolong his NFL career a few months ago, Pryor has earned rave reviews from his coaches. When speaking with AP, wide receivers coach Joker Phillips not only praised Pryor for his physical attributes, but also said the former Ohio State star is further ahead in the learning process than expected.

"The guy is starving to be taught the techniques. He knows the system. I don't have to coach the alignments. I don't have to coach assignment. I don't have to coach adjustments," Phillips said. "[Pryor] has really, really good ball skills. He has really strong hands. He's able to pluck the ball. He's got really natural ball skills. His hand placement is correct the majority of the time."

Before making waves at training camp, he showed off these skills on his Instagram page, where he posted several videos of himself making acrobatic catches while training with several former and current players, including Randy Moss, Antonio Brown, and Mike Evans:

As a quarterback, inaccurate throws, inconsistent reads, and poor mechanics plagued Pryor throughout his college and NFL careers. After throwing a wobbly pass on a trick play during practice recently, Pryor told Cleveland.com reporter Mary Kay Cabot he was never a strong passer.

"They said [the pass] was wobbly and ugly," Pryor said. "They said I lost my QB skills. I told them I never had them."

Pryor is a gifted athlete. He's 6-foot-4 and reportedly ran a 4.36 in the 40-yard dash during a pre-draft workout.

Cabot believes that stellar athleticism has actually made Pryor "a lock" to make the team's final 53-man roster:

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport supported Cabot's claim, saying that the hype surrounding Pryor appears to be real:

Fellow NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah notes Pryor's sheer size could make him a weapon in the red zone:

With a lackluster group of receivers ahead of him on the depth chart, and the rapid rate of his current development, Pryor has a legitimate shot to not only make the Brown's final roster, but become a key contributor as well.

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Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane is the target of a rape investigation, two law-enforcement sources told The Buffalo News.

According to the report, "a local woman has accused Kane of sexual assault." The alleged incident happened last weekend and is being investigated by the police in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg and one other unnamed local police agency, according to The Buffalo News.

Kane grew up in South Buffalo and lives in Hamburg.

A lawyer who represented Kane in a previous criminal case would not comment to The Buffalo News on the investigation. The NHL told the newspaper that they are aware of the investigation. The Blackhawks said they are "aware of the matter" but would not comment further.

No arrests have been made in the case. We've reached out to Kane's lawyer for comment.

Kane, the 2012-13 winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL's MVP in the playoffs, is also a three-time Stanley Cup champion, including this past season.

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Russell Wilson is now signed through the 2019 season with a new four-year, $87 million extension. The real winner here is Andrew Luck, who was taken 74 picks earlier than Wilson in the 2012 NFL Draft and is still considered the better quarterback.

Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac looked at other recent quarterback contracts and predicted Luck's next deal would be worth $113.2 million over five years with $53 million guaranteed and an average annual value of $22.6 million, which would be tops in the NFL.

While this projection was made prior to Wilson's deal, there isn't much that might change except possibly the amount of guaranteed money, as Wilson's contract includes $60 million guaranteed against injury.

Let's assume Luck does sign a five-year, $113.2 million contract to start in 2016. Let's also assume that he eclipses Wilson in signing bonus ($30 million) and gets $35 million up front and the rest of the money comes in the form of salaries that escalate in a similar manner to Wilson's deal. Luck could hit $135.3 million in career earnings by 2020, when he will still be 31 years old. Here is how that compares to Wilson.

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